


Morning After

by dreamist



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, But The Youngest Drinker Is 19, Friends With Benefits, It's Just Explicit Because It Has Some Smut In It, Light Angst, M/M, OT9 - Freeform, So Who Cares, This Isn't A Smut Story, Underage Drinking, but not who you think it is, commitment issues, side sekai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-05-26 01:21:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14989652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamist/pseuds/dreamist
Summary: Jongdae's Friday nights were meant to bring some excitement into his life, but maybe he got more than he bargained for this time.





	1. I. Jongdae

Systematic sampling, convenience sampling, stratified sampling, cluster sampling, just how many types of sampling were there in statistics? Kim Jongdae groaned, roughly closing his textbook, a loud _thump_ resonating throughout his apartment. Jongdae wasn’t the most studious man, and right now, he was really regretting becoming an economics major. It wasn’t even like the content was _difficult_ , it was just really tedious, and Jongdae absolutely hated spending his Friday nights doing responsible things, when he could be doing much more efficient activities, such as going to the nearest house party and getting drunk. Tossing his textbook to the side, Jongdae heaved a deep sigh, running a hand through his dusty brown hair. The sun had only just gone down, and if he wanted to find something better to do, he had to find it fast. Feeling himself become restless at the thought of wasting his Friday, he got up from the living room couch, stretching before trudging over to the hall where the bedrooms were, and knocking on the closest door to the right.

“Hey, Kyungsoo,” Jongdae called out, hearing only a grunt in response, which he assumed meant “come in”. He turned the doorknob, walking into his housemate’s room.

On a twin sized bed in the corner of the room was a short, dark-haired man, sitting with his legs crossed together as he stared directly at a book in his lap. He didn’t even bother to look up to acknowledge Jongdae walking into the room. 

“Kyungsoo, what are you doing?” Jongdae asked, leaning against the doorframe leading into the room.

“Reading.” Kyungsoo replied curtly, and Jongdae could tell he was trying to avoid the inevitable follow up question Jongdae was going to ask.

“Okay, well, what do you want to be doing?” Jongdae inquired, hoping for a better response.

“Reading.” Kyungsoo repeated, and Jongdae sighed, getting ready to put his best pouting act to convince his housemate to go do something with him. Before he could even open his mouth, though, Kyungsoo shut him down.

“Don’t think about inviting me to another party. I have to read, and I’m not trying to carry you back home” He said bluntly, pausing before adding, “Again.” Jongdae winced. _You couldn’t be any nicer, huh._ Once again, he was reminded of how different he and his housemate were.

Kyungsoo moved into the apartment by recommendation alone. It was about a month into the semester, when Jongdae’s other housemate, Minseok, switched jobs and started bringing in less money. They needed more income to keep up with the rent, so they started looking around for roommates. They couldn’t find anybody, and they were getting so desperate they almost decided to post an ad on Craigslist, when one of Jongdae’s best friends, Chanyeol, told him he knew a guy who was looking for a place to stay. His name was Do Kyungsoo, and he was a college freshman. Only 19, and though it sounded young, Jongdae was only a year older. Chanyeol told him that Kyungsoo wouldn’t cause any trouble as he was relatively quiet and kept to himself most of the time, and while all of that was true, Jongdae really wished he’d be a little more exciting. He vividly remembered the first day he met the younger man. It was the day he was scheduled to move in. Kyungsoo had shown up to the apartment with just one suitcase, asking which room would be his. He didn’t speak to Jongdae or Minseok for a week, until Minseok called him in to have a drink with the two on a Friday night. Kyungsoo only had one drink, and Jongdae ended up getting more tipsy than he wanted to, and at the end of the night it was Kyungsoo who ended up cleaning after the two older housemates. Surprisingly though, after that night he began to talk to the others more instead of becoming even more reserved, and a friendship was formed. Kyungsoo was younger than him, but with how mature he acted and how well he carried himself, it always felt like Jongdae was the younger one, doing wrong and getting scolded. 

That isn’t to say Jongdae disliked Kyungsoo. In fact, over the past four months, he had quite grown a liking to his housemate’s ‘stiff’ attitude, even if it meant he never agreed to go out with him. In a way, Kyungsoo kind of kept the place grounded. Before Kyungsoo came over, Minseok would have to be in charge of being “responsible,” and usually it would fail, because even Minseok liked to go out and party sometimes to take a break from his stress, and more often than not it’d end up in the both of them getting drunk (Jongdae more than Minseok, as usual), and Minseok scolding Jongdae over hangover soup the next morning, even though they both knew he would’ve gone to “relieve stress” with or without Jongdae’s expert help - Jongdae just made it more fun. However, with Kyungsoo around, Minseok stopped scolding him as much, and now he just drank less, but he’d still go to parties and have a good time (and help Jongdae back home if he got too wasted.) Kyungsoo kind of became the “role model” of the apartment (at least, when it came to partying and carrying themselves well), which was ironic, because he was the youngest one out of the three. And, despite his seeming disinterest in everything his housemates did, he cared for Minseok and Jongdae a lot, and showed it through small things, such as making breakfast on the mornings after the duo came back from partying, and tidying up the place when Minseok worked late nights and Jongdae was out. 

But still, with Minseok out and the only person to entertain him being Kyungsoo, Jongdae really wished he’d lighten up and agree to doing something fun for once.

“Kyung-” Jongdae started, but was interrupted by the sound of keys turning in the front door of the apartment. He watched relief spread over Kyungsoo’s face as he felt a grin forming on his own, and he removed himself from Kyungsoo’s door frame to speed towards the front door.

As soon as the front door opened, Jongdae tackled Minseok, making him drop his keys, and nearly tipping them both over. He heard a muffled _“Hey, Jongdae”_ as he continued to smother his housemate.

Similarly to how Kyungsoo moved in the house, Jongdae met Minseok because Minseok was looking for a new roommate after kicking his old one out. The only difference between how Kyungsoo got into the house and how Jongdae got into the house was that Minseok actually ended up posting the Craigslist ad in Jongdae’s case. Jongdae had to go through a 50 piece questionnaire and an interview before Minseok decided he was the guy he was looking for (“minus one or two things”), and Jongdae ended up moving in. Jongdae moved in as a college freshman, back before Minseok had even graduated, and they ended up being so compatible, that they became good friends on top of being housemates. Now, Jongdae couldn’t imagine not being friends with Minseok. He went on Craigslist to find a place to move in mostly out of desperation, but he never expected to find anybody he was genuinely compatible with. Though he thought Minseok was super weird at first, with his massive questionnaire and all, he was thankful every single day that things turned out well in the end. 

Jongdae’s reminiscing was interrupted when Minseok finally managed to push him off, sending Jongdae toppling onto the ground beneath him. He was satisfied with the damage he had done today- Minseok’s black hair was disheveled (more so than usual), and his buttoned uniform shirt had become wrinkled from Jongdae’s attack. 

“Do you have to do that _every_ Friday?” Minseok asked, as if he hadn’t asked the same question every single week since Jongdae started.

“Of course I do! It makes for quality bonding time.” Jongdae declared. He began the ritual of tackling Minseok on Fridays after one week when Minseok texted him that he had gone through a rough day. Jongdae tackled him to shower his “love” on him, and after that, they got real wasted. After that Friday, Jongdae did it because it was fun to see the surprise on Minseok’s face, and after the surprise went away, he did it just because it was funny to see how messy his appearance would get within two seconds of walking through the door. 

“I’ve been _waiting_ for you,” Jongdae whined, adding a lot of pout to his voice, “I’m bored and Kyungsoo refuses to do anything, as usual.” 

“I figured you’d say that.” Minseok replied, pulling his phone out from his pocket. Jongdae raised an eyebrow questioningly as Minseok began pulling up his text messages, finally finding the right one to show Jongdae.

“Junmyeon’s having a party, like, right now.” Hearing this, Jongdae snatched Minseok’s phone out of his hand to confirm the text. Sure enough, Junmyeon had texted Minseok about the party about half an hour ago. Jongdae shrieked.

”Junmyeon’s parties are the best!” Jongdae exclaimed, “Why didn’t he text _me?_ ” He complained, his voice rising an octave.

“Maybe because you blocked him after he said he didn’t see all the hype with Kyuhyun’s new song?” Minseok offered. At this, Jongdae’s eyes lit up in realization.

“You’re right! I never unblocked him.” He laughed. “So, are we going?” He asked expectantly, though he already knew the answer.

“Hell yeah, let me go change my clothes.” Minseok replied. Jongdae felt an excitement rise up in his chest. He couldn’t help but think it was going to be a _fantastic_ Friday night.

-

When the pair arrived at Junmyeon’s house, they split up almost immediately, with Jongdae telling Minseok to let Junmyeon know he was unblocked if he found him. 

Junmyeon’s house was massive, the property it was on taking up a whole 2 acres of land on it’s own, with the driveway to his villa being half an acre, and the actual villa taking up a whole acre. For the most part, the villa resembled something that would come out of an 80s Malibu sitcom, with a white exterior, large, open windows, and a light blue shade on the roof. There was a large tennis court behind the house, accompanied by a pool which was a little more than half the size of the tennis court. There was also a small hot tub near the pool, and a place to barbecue and sit and eat. And that was just the outside. Inside, Junmyeon’s house had not one, not two, but three living rooms (each with a fireplace), a huge kitchen (which staffed some 20 chefs regularly), a billiard room, and a bar, and upstairs there were at least twelve bedrooms, each with a bathroom, and that was only on the side of the house that Jongdae had actually visited. Additionally, Junmyeon had a separate, smaller house a little bit of a drive away from the huge villa, that he visited when he wanted “alone time”. To put it shortly, Junmyeon was living the rich life. 

“I’m not dragging you back if I can’t find you!” Minseok warned. Jongdae couldn’t blame him, with Junmyeon’s house being as big as it was.. At least they were friends, so he could pass out just about anywhere and Junmyeon would still vouch for him. 

“Alright!” Jongdae called back. Truthfully, although Jongdae wanted to just get wasted, he couldn’t help but feel enticed by the atmosphere. Junmyeon’s parties were always wild, and in the back of his mind he hoped he’d get something… more, from tonight. However, in typical party etiquette, as soon as Jongdae walked through the front doors of the giant villa, he found himself heading straight for the bar- a location he knew the path to all too well in this house.

Weaving his way through the havoc that was grinding couples and the occasional puffs of vapor smoke, he found himself at the bar, ordering “whatever the last guy had” (he liked a surprise). Junmyeon’s bartender (who, Jongdae thought, must’ve been getting paid a lot extra for working tonight) ended up passing him some 5 shots of _something_ , and that’s how Jongdae knew he was going to get real messed up tonight. He didn’t complain, though- wasn’t this what he asked for? So, he drank each shot one by one (he concluded it was some brand of whiskey,) before going out to the dance floor.

Junmyeon’s parties were, to put it shortly, crazy. As Jongdae made his way to the dance floor, he saw people dunking each other into the pool and drinking from beer kegs outside. Inside was also eventful, with couples making out against the walls and a group of guys gathering around the ping pong table to play beer pong- with cups of vodka instead of beer. If Jongdae didn’t know any better, he’d assume he was in the scene of some rated R high school movie, the one where the guy drinks too much and something horrible happens at the party, only nothing horrible would happen at Junmyeon’s party, because Junmyeon was responsible and would actually shut the party down if things got too out of hand (it’s only happened once, when a huge fight broke out with like ten different people- Jongdae still had the video on his phone). 

By the time he got to the huge living room where all the dancing was happening, the effects of the shots he had taken were starting to hit him. He was at the dance floor, but _who_ was he going to dance with? Everybody here already had somebody dancing with him. Maybe he’d just steal someone’s partner. As he looked around, he felt himself getting dizzy from moving his head too much, and he thought maybe he’d just sit down instead, but then he felt somebody tug on his arm and he felt himself spinning around, and the rest happened so fast.

“Want to dance?” Asked the person who grabbed, quite literally, his attention. It was a man, just taller than Jongdae by a few centimeters. Jongdae couldn’t make out his facial features too well, because the lighting was too dark and frankly, the booze was really starting to get to him, but this man had such an attractive voice, it was novocaine, numbing him to all his surroundings, and something about it drew Jongdae to him, he could only focus on this man, and-

“Is that a yes, sweetheart?” -and damn, the little playful drawl in his voice, this man had also been drinking- the playful drawl to his voice which teased Jongdae, made Jongdae know there was something to be desired-Jongdae paid attention to the only feature of the man’s face which he could actually make out: his lips. Fuck, if those weren’t some good lips, the man had a lip ring on the left side of his bottom lip that glinted ever so slightly in the dark lighting, and maybe it was the club music pounding through his ears or the five shots of whatever clouding his mind but damn, Jongdae found himself being real attracted to this man with those two questions alone, so he pulled the man close to him, and he crashed his own lips messily against the other’s with a force that left even himself shocked. 

The man was taken by surprise, but not for long, as he began to kiss back, and Jongdae felt the stranger’s hands slowly make their way down to his hips, where he began to help Jongdae grind against him. And fuck, it was so dirty, and there was a small rational part in the back of Jongdae’s mind telling him he really shouldn’t be grinding against this stranger, but a growing haze of lust was beginning to cloud his mind, as if the haze caused by the alcohol wasn’t enough to aid him in making bad decisions already, so he discarded that small rational thought immediately, to focus on giving this man all his attention.

After a while, when grinding was beginning to get boring and Jongdae was beginning to feel gross in the best way possible, sweat making his clothes stick to him and an increasingly constricting feeling down there, the man opened his mouth to speak again.

“Want to go upstairs?” and fuck, Jongdae thought it should be a sin for this man to speak, because it was so delicious, and he wanted to eat every single word the man spewed. Really, he should’ve stopped it, should’ve said no and gone to find Minseok instead, but he was so far gone, he let out a “yes” that was more of a whine than it was a word, and for a second he could’ve sworn he heard the man _groan_ , and suddenly he found himself being led towards the stairs, and he’d be lying if he said the excitement didn’t get to him.

The man seemed to be much more functional than Jongdae was, but that wasn’t saying much, because Jongdae was basically gone at this point, and when he let himself be led into a spare bedroom he could’ve sworn they teleported there, but that didn’t matter, because now he was pushing a stranger back into a bed in a spare room in Junmyeon’s house, and he was climbing on top of this person he didn’t know, and he was grinding against him and it all felt so _good_ , he leaned in for another kiss, even hungrier than before, and he felt the man begin to lift Jongdae’s shirt off of him, and _fuck_ , he was in paradise.

-

Jongdae woke up to a pounding in his head and the sun blinding his eyes. Groaning, he brought his arm up to shield his face from the bright light coming through the window. Where the hell was he? The inside of his mouth tasted disgusting, and he mentally cursed at himself for drinking so much the night before. What did he even drink? He didn’t know, but he made a mental note not to ever come into contact with it again, because he couldn’t remember _anything_ from the night before.

Braving the bright light, Jongdae removed his arm from his face to instead feel for the nightstand beside the bed, looking for his phone. In the process of doing so, he felt a thin paper fall off the nightstand, but his head was pounding too hard for him to be bothered to look down for it on the floor. Finally, he felt his phone, and he grabbed it, looking to check the time. 

1:00 PM.

 _Damn_ , Jongdae thought to himself. He must’ve _really_ knocked out. On any other drinking night, the latest he woke up was 11:30. What the hell happened last night?

With a huff, he forced himself to sit up straight, the blanket which was covering him falling to his lap. That was when he realized- he was naked.

 _Oh_. He thought to himself, _That explains a lot._ Looking around the room, he saw his pants tossed all the way to the corner of the room, and his shirt at the foot of the bed. What he didn’t see, however, was any trace of who he spent the night with. Either the guy was long gone, or he was still in Junmyeon’s house. Knowing how drunk nights go though, Jongdae assumed he was already off the premises. 

Sighing, he started to text Minseok.

_hey. u still at Junmyeon’s?_

Then, as he waited for a reply, he trudged off the bed, gathering his clothes and putting them back on. Oh, how he couldn’t wait to get back home to brush his teeth and take a good shower. He hadn’t gotten a reply while he was putting on his clothes, so he assumed Minseok was just as fucked up as he was. Instead, he chose to bother his other, very unfortunate housemate, Kyungsoo.

 _kyungsoo~_

Jongdae chuckled to himself as he waited for a reply. He could almost hear the youngest housemate’s annoyed groan. A few minutes had passed when he got a message back.

_k-soo: What do u want._

_Jongdae: what are u doing?_

_k-soo: Studying._

Jongdae laughed at Kyungsoo’s curt reply. The guy was just as blunt in his texts as he was in real life.

_Jongdae: come pick me up_

_k-soo: No. Get an Uber._

_Jongdae: please~_

_k-soo: No._

_Jongdae: i’ll pay u_

This time, Kyungsoo took a few minutes to reply.

_k-soo: How much?_

_Jongdae: $20_

_k-soo: I’ll be there in 10 minutes._

Jongdae exclaimed in triumph, and then cursed at himself for yelling, as he was reminded of his dreadful hangover with another throb in his head. Money really could sway even the most stubborn boulders. Jongdae made his way outside of the room he was staying in, and slowly walked downstairs, towards the front door. The only people he encountered were passed out on the floor, and he assumed Junmyeon was probably in his smaller house behind the villa. With nobody else to talk to, he just waited at the front door until Kyungsoo’s car pulled up.

“Where’s Minseok?” Kyungsoo asked.

“No idea. He’s probably knocked out.” Jongdae replied. Kyungsoo let out a small noise of agreement, before pressing on the accelerator and driving the pair back home.

-

The rest of the week was incredibly uneventful, the only thing different from the ordinary being a call from Chanyeol on Friday morning asking Jongdae to pick him up from the tattoo studio about a mile away that afternoon..

“ _Another_ tattoo?!” Jongdae exclaimed, incredulous when Chanyeol had asked.

“What? You know it’s my thing. This one’s going to be the best one yet.” Chanyeol had responded.

“You say that about every one you get.” Jongdae said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, that’s because every single one I get is the best one to date.” 

 

“You’re unbelievable.” Jongdae said.

“So, are you going to pick me up?”

“I have nothing better to do, so sure, why not?”

And that was how Jongdae found himself parked outside the familiar tattoo studio (it was Chanyeol’s favorite) a mile away from his apartment, waiting on Chanyeol to finish getting his tattoo on a Friday afternoon. Chanyeol ended up coming out twenty minutes later than scheduled, and Jongdae would’ve been mad, but he hadn’t seen his best friend in weeks, so he decided to ignore the fact that he was late (it was another one of “his things”). 

When Chanyeol got into the passenger seat, Jongdae saw the tattoo right away. It was impossible to miss. A giant phoenix, curling around Chanyeol’s right arm, its wings spread out gracefully.

“That’s… kind of hardcore?” Jongdae commented.

“Hell yeah. You know how much I love mythology.” Chanyeol said, staring at his own tattoo in pride. Personally, Jongdae wasn’t a fan of big tattoos, and he’d never even consider getting such a design anywhere on him, but Chanyeol liked it, and it looked good on him in that “only-Chanyeol-can-pull-it-off” way, so he showed his approval.

“You know, lately I’ve been thinking of getting a tattoo of my own.” Jongdae voiced, after Chanyeol finished spewing on about his own. 

“Really?!” Chanyeol exclaimed, and Jongdae widened his eyes at how excited Chanyeol got, quickly realizing his mistake. 

“You should make an appointment with Baekhyun. He’s the best tattoo artist in the nearest 50 miles. Hell, I’d bet my money he’s the best one in the nearest 500 miles. He’s amazing. Also, he’s not super expensive.” 

“Baekhyun..?” Jongdae asked. For some reason, the name sounded familiar.

“He’s my tattoo artist. I’ve been going to him ever since this one.” Chanyeol explained, pointing to the tattoo of a hand holding a dagger and stabbing another hand on his forearm, a tattoo he had gotten about two years ago. “He’s amazing.” 

Jongdae figured that was where he had heard the name before. “Yeah, your tattoos are pretty nice…” He said. “When can I get one?” To that, Chanyeol laughed.

“You need to schedule an appointment. You can’t just walk in and be like ‘I want a tattoo.’ I mean, you can, for really bad tattoo artists, but Baekhyun is like… the best of the best. He’s a busy guy. You should schedule an appointment now.” 

" _Now?_ I don’t even know what I want!” 

“And? If you don’t schedule an appointment now, knowing you, you probably never will. Let’s go, the studio’s right there.” Chanyeol said, and just like that, he was getting out of the car again. And against all his better judgement, Jongdae followed, even though everything inside him was yelling at him to not move out of his comfort zone this fast. And as Chanyeol opened the door for Jongdae to walk into the studio, Jongdae found himself thinking:

_I’m about to make a bad decision again._


	2. II. Baekhyun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! This chapter kind of has some smut, but it's meant to be more casual than anything intimate... I guess you'll see what I mean as you read :) Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

When Baekhyun’s friends asked him to go with them to the party on Friday night, Baekhyun really didn’t want to go. He didn’t know who was hosting it nor did he know anybody who was going except for his friends, Jongin and Sehun, who were in a relationship and were guaranteed to not pay attention to him. It was strange, despite being extremely outgoing and playful, Baekhyun didn’t quite see the appeal in college parties anymore. A part of it could’ve been all the parties he went to back when he was still in college, but they didn’t feel like they were as fun as they used to be anymore. After so many parties, they all appear the same in the end: people getting wasted, dancing, doing reckless shit, and if you’re lucky maybe you’ll get laid, but everybody Baekhyun ever slept with at a house party was super boring in bed. If he wanted a good partner he had a better chance with any of his customers back at the tattoo studio. 

So, when Jongin texted him while he was out at lunch on Thursday afternoon, Baekhyun initially declined. He didn’t have anything to do on Friday night, but he didn’t see the point in spending it at another college party. Sure, he’d probably know some people who were there, people who were in his classes before he decided to drop out, but was it worth it? He kept in touch with the people he cared about, so he didn’t see the point in going to another rich guy’s college party. When he declined Jongin’s offer, he hoped it would be final and Jongin would stop bothering him about it. As usual, that wasn’t the case, and he ended up getting a call from Sehun in the next half hour, begging him to go.

“Why do you want me to go so badly?” Baekhyun had asked.

“Come on, you know a party’s shit if you aren’t there.” Sehun had answered, and Baekhyun had seriously wondered what Jongin and Sehun would do if he ever genuinely was too busy to hang out with them. They only paid attention to each other anyways, why were they always trying to drag him along everywhere? Truthfully, he knew they always tried to invite him places because Sehun was one of his best friends, and Sehun was the type of person who hated to be the guy to ditch his best friends for a relationship. Yet, Baekhyun felt like there was no point in him coming along to places if Sehun was just going to pay attention to his boyfriend anyway. At least Baekhyun liked Sehun’s boyfriend, so he didn’t really mind them much.

“I’ll think about it.” Baekhyun decided, mostly to appease the pair so they could stop bothering him. He knew the two had unreasonable stamina when it came to getting what they wanted, and he had to get back to work soon.

“So that’s a yes?” Sehun asked expectantly, and before Baekhyun could say anything, he continued, “Great! We’ll show up at your place at 8.” 

That was how Baekhyun ended up getting roped into going to some random rich guy’s party. Baekhyun didn’t want to go alone with Sehun and Jongin- he could already tell if that happened he was going to end up by himself by the end of the party- so on Friday morning he called his other best friend, Yixing, to see what he was doing that night.

“I’d go with you, but I was going to stay at the studio late tonight to finish choreographing this dance for the students. They’ve been looking forward to it, you know?” Yixing apologized once Baekhyun tried appealing to him.

Baekhyun had met Yixing before he had dropped out, back in college. The two had shared a dorm together. They were pure opposites, with Yixing being a lot more refined and respectful than Baekhyun was (also, a lot cleaner), but they somehow got along in the year they were roommates. Baekhyun was a studio arts major, Yixing was a performing arts major, but they both felt equally stressed by the expectations college was placing upon them, and they bonded in venting to each other about how much they couldn’t wait to leave. They hung out with each other when the stress got too high, and by the end of the school year, they were basically best friends. Baekhyun made sure Yixing was one of the people he kept in touch with a lot after dropping out.

Because of their closeness, Baekhyun knew Yixing fairly well, and when he said he couldn’t go to the party on Friday night, Baekhyun knew there was some part of his choreography excuse that was just Yixing not wanting to go to the party (he disliked them just as much as Baekhyun did). Baekhyun couldn’t blame him, it wasn’t necessarily his ideal way of spending a Friday night either. Sighing, he called his other friend, Chanyeol, instead.

“Sorry, I promised my friend I’d marathon Marvel with him tonight.” Chanyeol had said.

“You didn’t invite me?” Baekhyun asked, dramatically gasping. 

“Didn’t know you were into that.” Chanyeol explained. At this, Baekhyun sighed.

“We need to hang out more.” He had decided.

“Yeah, we need to have more hangouts that don’t end with your dick in my ass, then maybe we’ll actually learn something about each other.” Chanyeol stated. To this, Baekhyun laughed.

“You like my dick in your ass, though. Plus, you learn enough about me when we talk at your weekly tattoo appointments.” Baekhyun retorted playfully, and this time Chanyeol was the one giving a short laugh, mentioning something about how his tattoo appointments weren’t that frequent.

Chanyeol was one of Baekhyun’s first customers when Baekhyun had finally decided to drop out of college. After a lot of strings were pulled, Baekhyun got hired at some tattoo studio downtown, where he began working full time. Chanyeol was one of his first customers at that place. Eventually, when his reputation was high enough and people trusted him enough to lend him money, Baekhyun opened his own tattoo place a few miles away from the one downtown, and Chanyeol liked the way Baekhyun did tattoos so much that he ended up following Baekhyun to the new location, too. 

One day when Chanyeol had come to Baekhyun for another tattoo, he ended up talking about a guy he slept with the night before who was _really_ bad at sex, and how it was the most unsatisfying experience he had since his first time. That day, when he started vaguely talking about his kinks and what he didn’t like (Baekhyun could’ve sworn he was drunk or high or something), Baekhyun’s interest was piqued, and two nights after that day they went to the bar together, and they ended up making out, and as the natural course of things took place they ended up sleeping together. It was so good that they did it again when they were both sober, and then they did it again, and again, and again, until it became a common event in their lives. They ended up developing a friendship too, as frequently sleeping with people tends to create enough trust to confide in each other about things (and Chanyeol already trusted Baekhyun from back when they didn’t sleep with each other all the time), and that was how the two achieved the “friends-with-benefits” status. Sometimes they hung out just to hang out, but most of the time their hangouts ended (or started) with them having sex, but neither of them really complained about their friendship not getting much deeper than that, so it was okay for the both of them.

With both Yixing and Chanyeol unavailable to go to the party, Baekhyun had no choice but to go alone (and with Jongin and Sehun, but did they really count?). So reluctantly he got dressed into casual clothes, and at exactly 8pm on Friday night the couple showed up to pick up Baekhyun, and Baekhyun got into the car to what he assumed would be a really boring Friday night.

Sehun and Jongin tried to stick near Baekhyun for a while, but eventually Baekhyun got separated from the two, leaving him alone in the unusually large house party. He got a beer from the bar-he wasn’t really looking to get seriously wasted- and he walked around the party, looking for something to do. 

There was nothing of interest for a good amount of time, and Baekhyun ended up drinking two more beers before deciding to hang out in the living room where everybody was partying. _Maybe_ he’d find somebody. Girl, boy, he really didn't care. He needed to get something out of coming here, even if it was half-assed sex. Unfortunately, everybody on the dance floor was already dancing with somebody else. 

It wasn’t until Baekhyun had given up, had gotten up to go outside and call a taxi to drive him back home, that he saw somebody who wasn’t taken. It was a guy, a little shorter than Baekhyun, with light brown hair. He was stumbling a little as he was looking around, likely for somebody to dance with. _What the hell, why not?_ Baekhyun thought, and he approached the man, asking him if he wanted to dance.

When the man spun around, Baekhyun found that he was a lot more attractive than he expected. Maybe it was because of his stigma around college parties, but he didn’t expect anybody genuinely good looking (except for himself and his friends, of course) to be here. The man swayed, staring at Baekhyun’s lips with a distracted haze over his eyes. He had prominent cheekbones, with a near flawless, protruding nose and full, suggestive lips. Baekhyun had asked him twice if he wanted to dance, and he was really starting to think maybe the man in front of him couldn’t hear him, but then the man did the unthinkable- he crashed his lips against Baekhyun’s. It succeeded in leaving Baekhyun shocked for a second, and maybe it was the assertiveness, but this man had piqued Baekhyun’s interest, and Baekhyun kissed back, finally seeing good in coming to the otherwise average party.

-

Unsurprisingly, the two ended up sleeping together. Baekhyun woke up to his alarm, having forgotten to turn it off the night before, and he groaned as he opened his eyes. Upon seeing the unfamiliar surroundings, he froze in confusion. His eyes began darting around to analyze the room he was in. When he saw his pants on the floor, he remembered the night before, and he looked over to see the guy he had slept with after the party (“Jongdae”, he had told him in the midst of rushing to get Baekhyun’s pants off) still sleeping heavily. Baekhyun would have stayed until Jongdae woke up, but Yixing reminded him they were going to have coffee that morning (it was an apology for him not being able to go to the party with Baekhyun), so he ended up putting his clothes back on and calling a taxi before Jongdae came to. However, with memories of the night before rushing back, Baekhyun couldn’t help but think about how good Jongdae was in bed. Baekhyun wasn’t sure if Jongdae felt so good because he had drank before the sex, or if he was just average and everybody else he had ever slept with at a house party was really bad, but one thing was for sure: he really wanted to do it again while they were both sober (just to check if he was as good sober, of course). So before leaving, he jotted his phone number onto some notepad paper he found nearby, putting it on the nightstand where Jongdae’s phone was on beside the bed, and he left the house in hopes that it wouldn’t be the last time the two met.

However, when he didn’t get a text or a call from any unknown number later that day, nor the day after that, nor the day after that, by the time the end of the next week arrived, he had come to the conclusion that he was never going to meet the man again. 

That was, until the man walked right into his studio.

Baekhyun had just finished his last customer for the day. Today it ended up being Chanyeol, so he took longer than he normally would have as he and Chanyeol talked about casual things, like how college was going and how life was and whatnot. When Chanyeol left, Baekhyun was ready to close up. It was early, but Baekhyun had a thing for closing early on Fridays (it was so it could feel like his weekend was longer). He was ready to go, but as he was walking around the studio to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be, he heard the door open again. He got ready to turn down whoever it was, starting to give his regular “we’re closed” speech. 

“Sorry, we’re closing up now, you can make an appoint-” He cut himself off when he had turned around to see who it was. There, inside his tattoo studio, was the man he had slept with on Friday night. Jongdae. In front of him was Chanyeol again, his lanky height and bright pink hair taking up most of the view, but Baekhyun’s eyes seemed to see right through the giant as he stared directly at the brunette behind him.

“Hey Baek! This is my friend, Jongdae. He wants to make an appointment!” Chanyeol said, his wide eyes glimmering in excitement. As usual, Chanyeol was being relatively oblivious to the atmosphere and how Baekhyun was staring at Jongdae, but Baekhyun was glad for once that he didn’t notice because telling by how Jongdae was reacting, he didn’t remember Friday night at all, and Baekhyun didn’t need Chanyeol pointing out how long he was staring at Jongdae. Then, that was when Baekhyun thought that maybe he had gotten another chance. He found himself silently thanking the entire heavens for Chanyeol’s existence. Regaining his composure, he gave his business smile to Jongdae.

“Of course! Since you’re Chanyeol’s friend, I’ll give you a little priority.” Baekhyun said, giving one of those “professional” light jokes that were more like “please-come-back-I’m-being-nice” than “haha-I’m-so-funny” to Jongdae. They ended up agreeing on the next Thursday as Jongdae’s tattoo day, and Jongdae and Chanyeol got ready to leave the store. 

“Chanyeol!” Baekhyun called as Chanyeol opened the door to leave, “Remember to let me know how your tattoo’s healing up.” Chanyeol paused at this, staring at Baekhyun before his mouth turned into an ‘o’ shape, and then he nodded. 

“See you!” Chanyeol replied, and together, he and Jongdae left the store.

That night, he got the expected text from Chanyeol.

_hey. you wanted me?_

Baekhyun was laying down on the bed inside his studio apartment when he got the text. He replied almost instantly.

_yeah. it’s been a while, let’s hang out. marvel & chill?_

Baekhyun turned on Netflix, clicking on the first Marvel movie to pop up in his recommended, and Chanyeol showed up at his place within the next ten minutes. When Baekhyun heard the knock on the door, he jumped up from his bed immediately, making the short walk to the front door and pulling Chanyeol inside by his shirt with speed. Confused, Chanyeol let himself be dragged to the couch, where Baekhyun pushed him down, quickly getting onto his knees and going to unbutton Chanyeol’s jeans.

“This is going fast today.” Chanyeol commented, as Baekhyun finished unbuttoning his jeans, quickly slipping his hand into Chanyeol’s boxers and pulling out his dick. It was soft, but that wasn’t a problem. He’d be up and going in a few minutes.

“Are you complaining?” Baekhyun asked, spitting on his own hand and beginning to give a few careless strokes to the other.

“No, keep going.” Chanyeol replied, letting his head fall back as Baekhyun worked his hands on his cock, feeling himself getting harder as the pace of Baekhyun’s stroking became more rhythmic, as Baekhyun added more spit to the handjob. Then, when Chanyeol was fully hard, Baekhyun wasted no time in putting his mouth around the other’s dick, immediately taking Chanyeol all the way in to the base of his cock.

“Fuck-” Chanyeol moaned out in surprise, his hands falling to grip the cushions beside him. Baekhyun sucked him at a steady pace, bringing one of his hands up to fondle Chanyeol’s balls as he deepthroated him, causing Chanyeol to let out a low, heady whine. Every now and then Baekhyun would change the pace so Chanyeol wouldn’t get bored, and as he felt Chanyeol getting ready to cum he came off his cock, a loud _pop_ resonating throughout his small apartment followed by a string of spit stretching between Chanyeol’s dick and Baekhyun’s lips. Chanyeol whined again, frustrated that his release was stopped, but then Baekhyun went to nibble the head of his cock a little bit, swirling his tongue around the tip, and then Chanyeol really came, Baekhyun quickly putting the other’s cock back in his mouth to swallow what was coming out. 

As if they had planned it, when Chanyeol calmed down, he and Baekhyun switched positions, and now Chanyeol was reaching into Baekhyun’s pants, pulling out his dick.

Chanyeol’s approach was a little different than Baekhyun’s this time, as he licked long strips of Baekhyun’s cock going from the base of it all the way to the head. He did this for a while, until Baekhyun got annoyed and gave him a warning glare, so he finally took him entirely into his mouth, wrapping a hand around the parts he couldn’t get at.

Baekhyun’s mind wandered off to Jongdae, and how lucky he was for Jongdae’s friend to lead him to his tattoo studio, and how great it was that Chanyeol was a literal gift from the gods, and as his mind continued to wander, he felt himself groaning, “Fuck, I love you.” he moaned, grabbing at Chanyeol’s hair. Hearing this, Chanyeol froze. Confused, Baekhyun looked down at Chanyeol, and they stared at each other for a few seconds before realizing the context of what he said.

“Not like that.” Baekhyun laughed, and Chanyeol relaxed, continuing to go up and down on Baekhyun’s cock.

“It’s about your friend.” Baekhyun explained, and Chanyeol stopped sucking to lift his head, the curious look Baekhyun was used to seeing coming over his face.

“Jongdae?” Chanyeol asked, and Baekhyun nodded. Chanyeol let out an _‘ah’_ in understanding before going down on Baekhyun’s dick again.

“Him and I slept together on Friday.” Baekhyun continued, and Chanyeol popped off of his dick once more, eager to contribute to the conversation. Baekhyun felt himself get slightly irritated, but he let Chanyeol keep talking, not yet to the point where he was close enough to get really mad at the interruption.

“He told me about that! He said he didn’t know who he slept with.” Chanyeol said, and Baekhyun nodded.

“I figured. He didn’t remember me at the tattoo studio. I gave him my number, though.” Baekhyun replied.

“You did? He said he didn’t see any phone number in the room when he was getting dressed.” Chanyeol commented. Then, it made sense to Baekhyun. The paper must’ve fallen somewhere. Chanyeol got ready to open his mouth to speak again, but after hearing everything he needed to, Baekhyun really just wanted to finish getting his dick sucked, so he gently tugged on Chanyeol’s hair to remind him what they were doing, and Chanyeol went back to bobbing his head on Baekhyun’s cock.

After a while, Baekhyun spoke again. “I want to fuck him again.” He said. Chanyeol hummed around his cock in response, and Baekhyun moaned before continuing, “Sober.” He elaborated. Chanyeol didn’t say anything, instead choosing to massage Baekhyun’s balls while he sucked. Finally, Baekhyun felt himself reaching an orgasm, so he let go in Chanyeol’s mouth, groaning as Chanyeol continued to suck him through his high. When he was finished, Chanyeol came back up to sit on the couch beside Baekhyun, and he gave Baekhyun a kiss, which Baekhyun returned lazily, tasting himself in the other's mouth. 

“Go for it.” Chanyeol encouraged as the two got into a comfortable position on Baekhyun’s couch, “Just don’t hurt him.” 

“Are you kidding? I’m the most responsible dom in this city.” Baekhyun responded, and Chanyeol looked at him as if he had something else to say, but after pondering, he simply turned to the TV, and the two tuned into the movie which had been playing since Chanyeol got to Baekhyun’s place- Doctor Strange. Arranging themselves so that Baekhyun was cuddling into Chanyeol’s chest, the two watched as The Ancient One sent a non-believing Doctor Strange through the astral plane and the mirror dimension. They spent the rest of the night like that, until they both fell asleep watching all the Marvel movies on Netflix.

-

 

Thursday came fast, something which Baekhyun thanked the time gods for. He was just finishing up with one of his other regulars when Jongdae walked into the studio, a whole five-foot-eight-inch lump of nervousness, scratching the back of his neck and looking down awkwardly as he waited for the guy Baekhyun was working with to finish paying. Baekhyun gave a friendly wave to the guy as he left the building, both of them laughing over a story he was telling Baekhyun while Baekhyun was working on him. When the guy left, Baekhyun turned to Jongdae.

“So,” He started in his most cheerful voice, “Have you got your design?”

-

Jongdae asked for an ankle tattoo. When Baekhyun asked him if he was sure, he got an increasing feeling that Chanyeol didn’t warn Jongdae about the pain that came with ankle tattoos, because Jongdae exclaimed frequently throughout the process, causing an amused smile to from over Baekhyun’s lips.

“Not good with pain?” Baekhyun questioned.

“I am, I just-ah!” Jongdae cut off, yelping once again as Baekhyun shifted the needle to continue working on the tattoo, “I’m just not used to this.” In response, Baekhyun simply chuckled.

“Why are you laughing?” Jongdae asked, but it was more like a high-toned whine that suggested he was either annoyed or embarrassed, and Baekhyun thought he could safely bet it was the latter.

“Nothing. You’re just cute.” Baekhyun replied, and Jongdae’s face was overcome with various expressions of confusion, until he ended up pouting, a light tint of blush covering his cheeks. His pouting was quickly interrupted by another pained yelp as Baekhyun continued his work, making him flush in even more embarrassment.

By the time Baekhyun was finished, Jongdae had little tears at the corners of his eyes, and Baekhyun would have been lying if he said it didn’t turn him on just a little bit, but he forced himself to pretend he wasn’t having the most perverted thoughts while he was working. Instead he continued giving his professional tattoo artist persona, going over to get the payment from Jongdae where he was waiting at the cash register.

After paying, Jongdae had started to say goodbye when Baekhyun stopped him. 

“Here’s my number.” Baekhyun said, pulling out a business card from the card holder he had next to the register and handing it to Jongdae. Baekhyun saw confusion on Jongdae’s face, so he explained, “It’s for you to keep me updated on your tattoo. You know, make sure it’s healing right and everything.” Truthfully, Baekhyun just needed an excuse to give Jongdae his number, “I’d rather you text me sooner than later.” He finished, adding a little wink to the end of his short monologue, then wondering if it was too early to wink. If it was, he couldn’t take it back now. 

Jongdae, however, either wasn’t disturbed by the wink or simply didn’t catch it, as he simply let out an “ah” in understanding before smiling. 

“Thanks! I should go now.” Jongdae said, pocketing Baekhyun’s business card. Baekhyun gave a smile back, waving as Jongdae turned to leave the studio. Soon after, he got a text from a number he didn’t recognize.

_hey! this is jongdae :)_

Looking down at his phone, Baekhyun found he was smiling to himself, a fond feeling he hadn’t felt in a while beginning to brew in the bottom of his gut. He saved Jongdae’s number into his contacts before closing up the studio.

When he got home, Baekhyun had a really good night on his own.


	3. III. Baekhyun

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! It's been a really long time since my last update, and I'm so sorry about that. More about that in my notes at the end of the chapter. For now, though, I'm glad I was able to write this in time for the holidays. I hope you all enjoy this! And here's to more frequent updates from now on :)

The week after seeing Jongdae again felt incredibly dull to Baekhyun. More often than not, he found his mind wandering to the younger man, thinking about his sharp, protruding cheekbones and his lustrous, chestnut hair, so fluffy Baekhyun swore it was made of clouds. He thought about Jongdae’s voice which made the world around Baekhyun turn into gold whenever he spoke, making Baekhyun long to hear him say more- he regretted not talking much when he was giving Jongdae that tattoo. He couldn’t help himself, though- his mind was, quite literally, swarmed with thoughts flying through it at record speeds. If his brain was a person, it would’ve beat Usain Bolt in a race.

Baekhyun wanted to make Jongdae laugh. He wanted to hear the other’s pure mirth echo through the room, enveloping Baekhyun and making him laugh, too, as contagious laughter usually did. Baekhyun could assume Jongdae’s laughter was extremely contagious. If he were being honest. everything about Jongdae appeared to be contagious. He wasn’t sure why he was having these thoughts about the younger man, these strange feelings whenever he thought about Jongdae. They made him feel incomprehensibly giddy, but he that didn’t mean he was necessarily against them. Yet.

These thoughts weren’t the only ones to plague Baekhyun’s mind when it came to the enthusiastic younger man that was Kim Jongdae. More often than not, Baekhyun’s thoughts about the other were about his high pitched, needy whining, and the way his voice seemed to malfunction whenever he became flustered and overwhelmed. How sensitive his rounded nipples were, so sensitive that he cried out when they were touched. His beautiful body splayed out before Baekhyun, waiting for Baekhyun to pay attention to him. How bratty he became when he was denied. All this, when he was _drunk._ The more he thought about it, the more Baekhyun couldn’t wait to fuck him when he was sober. His mind continued to drift. Jongdae’s sweat glistening against his chest, and him, swollen and denied, lips red and flushed. The way he bounced sensitively, up and down onto Baekhyun’s-

The door to Baekhyun’s tattoo studio opened behind him, snapping him out of his train of thought.

Baekhyun turned to face the person, noting this would most likely be his last business interaction as he quickly glanced at the clock on the wall in front of him. He was surprised, however, to see none other than Jongdae himself in front of him. Quickly, the thoughts which had dissipated mere seconds before rose to his conscious again, and he felt himself become flustered as he stared at the man in front of him. The thoughts were rapid now, and suddenly, Baekhyun found himself surprisingly unable to speak. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt like this.

“Um, hi?” Jongdae began, concern turning his greeting into a question, “I know I wasn’t supposed to come back so soon. I was just in the area and I was, um, worried.”

Upon hearing Jongdae speak (what a beautiful voice he had, Baekhyun thought), Baekhyun snapped out of his fast-paced thoughts once again. He hoped he didn’t appear aloof to the other man while he was trying to snap out of it. Regaining his composure, he began to speak.

“Of course.” He started, “What’s worrying you?”

Jongdae propped his foot up onto one of the nearby chairs, showing off his ankle tattoo- scaly, in its peeling stage. “Is it supposed to do this?” He asked, his question tinged in underlying fret. Baekhyun couldn’t stop himself from letting out a small laugh. This guy, he thought, was adorable.

“Don’t worry.” Baekhyun reassured, “That’s a normal part of the healing process.” Upon hearing this, Jongdae’s face seemed to relax in relief.

“That’s good to know.” He said, smiling, “Sorry for coming in to bother you about something so small. My friends tell me I overreact a lot.” He continued, kicking his foot back and forth ever so slightly in a display of embarrassment.

“It’s fine,” Baekhyun consoled the other, “You didn’t bother me- I was just about to close up anyway.” To solidify his statement, Baekhyun picked up the store keys from the counter behind him, beginning to walk towards the front door. Jongdae didn’t say anything, choosing rather to follow the older man outside, where he waited for Baekhyun to lock up the store.

As Baekhyun finished closing up, Jongdae began to raise his hand in a goodbye wave. In the split second that he did so, Baekhyun realized this was a perfect chance to spend time with the person he had been thinking so much about recently. Hastily, he said the first thing that came to his mind before Jongdae said his farewells.

“What are you going to do now?” He questioned.

“Now? I have to head back home. Just came back from class.” Jongdae explained. Baekhyun appeared to mull over his next question before continuing the conversation.

“Can I walk you home? It’s getting pretty late.” Jongdae, who wasn’t expecting the offer, became very visibly flustered once Baekhyun asked, a rose tint rising to cover his cheeks. Baekhyun held back a grin. He loved it when Jongdae blushed. (Whether his admiration for Jongdae’s blushing was entirely innocent or not was not something for Baekhyun to divulge.)

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.” Jongdae began, his words suddenly falling out of his mouth at quicker speeds than before, “I live kind of far from here. I don’t want to be a hassle, I’ll be fine, you don’t have to worry about me.” He sputtered.

“I insist.” Baekhyun assured, hoping Jongdae would let him tag along. Jongdae paused, seeming to think about his options before giving a nod.

“I guess you can come with me, if it won’t bother you.” He relented. To this, Baekhyun felt an unfamiliar thrill consume him.

-

Though his friends claimed he exaggerated a lot, one thing Jongdae didn’t exaggerate about, Baekhyun realized, was the distance of his apartment from Baekhyun’s tattoo shop. It was unreasonably far, and by the time they reached the building which Jongdae claimed to be where his apartment was located, the sun was beginning to set. Baekhyun would have complained, if it wasn’t for the fact that he just spent a good hour and a half walking with the man he had been thinking about for a good week. It would’ve been a more pleasurable experience, Baekhyun thought, if it was less humid outside. Nonetheless, he was finding that he enjoyed himself immensely in the presence of a certain Kim Jongdae.

The pair stopped in front of Jongdae’s apartment building.

“Thanks so much for walking with me,” Jongdae said, “You made the walk feel so much shorter. And, um, I liked talking to you.” He finished, looking down at the ground in an almost childlike sense of bashfulness. Upon hearing this, Baekhyun felt himself swell with a feeling of pride, and another emotion which he couldn’t quite identify at the time. The corners of his lips unknowingly lifted into a smile, and he replied,

“I’m happy you let me come along.” Baekhyun replied, “I liked talking to you, too.” To this, Jongdae seemed to light up.

“Really?” He gushed, and Baekhyun wondered if he was the first person to ever admit to enjoying the other’s company.

“Really.” Baekhyun affirmed. In that moment, as he stared into the younger man’s eyes filled with admiration, Baekhyun became overwhelmed with a profound need to kiss the him. The urge was so intense, he almost forgot he wasn’t standing in one of the fantasies in his mind. He only barely abstained from doing the deed, opting to clench his fists and remind himself where he was instead. He smiled at the brunette, who appeared to be waiting for the elder to say something.

“You should go inside now. It’ll be getting dark soon.” He reminded the other, and Jongdae let out an unintelligible exclamation, seeming to suddenly remember that he wasn’t actually inside his apartment.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” He laughed, “Thanks again.” Jongdae paused, as if he had something else to say. “See you soon?”

“Definitely.” Baekhyun confirmed, and with that, a grand smile came over Jongdae’s face, and he waved to Baekhyun before heading inside.

Now that the magical experience that was being around Jongdae had ended, Baekhyun found himself returning to the real world. About a two hour walk away from his own apartment, he was beginning to seriously regret not taking his car to work today. However, as he looked around at where he was, it appeared that he was especially lucky today, for he believed he had a friend who lived not too far from where he was.

Picking up the pace, Baekhyun began to walk.

-

Baekhyun stopped in front of a small blue one story house on the outskirts of the city. It was a relatively contemporary home, with strange bulky columns decorating each side of the main entrance. The sun had completely gone down by now, and Baekhyun was seriously hoping his friend was home. It occurred to him at the last minute that his friend may have decided to stay at his studio overnight, which would’ve been disastrous for Baekhyun. He supposed he could’ve taken an Uber home, which would be what he’d have to do if Yixing wasn’t home. With hope, he thumped on his friend’s front door.

A minute passed. Baekhyun didn’t hear any movement from inside the house. He leaned in closer, putting his ear on the door, but found that he still couldn’t hear anything. His worry grew.

Two minutes passed. Baekhyun began to tap his foot on the carpet in front of the door impatiently. He took his phone out of his pocket, pulling out the Uber app and checking rates. Because he was further out from the city, and because it was getting late, the rates were slightly higher than normal. He sighed.

Three minutes passed. He raised his fist to knock once more, but as soon as his hand met the door, he heard a _click_ signaling the lock turning, and he saw the knob began to turn immediately afterwards. He gave a breath of relief.

The door creaked upon, and Baekhyun caught a glimpse of the familiar fluffy dark hair which he associated with Yixing. The latter opened the door entirely, revealing his full head of hair, messy as if he had just gotten out of bed. Yixing had a confused expression on, his eyebrows furrowing as if he was trying to figure out what Baekhyun was doing in front of his house unannounced. Baekhyun grinned, getting ready to make fun of his close friend.

“You’re getting old faster than I thought,” He teased, “Going to bed at this time?”

Yixing scoffed, “I’m literally only a year older than you.” He started, “Plus, I didn’t really get to sleep last night.”

“Making choreographies?” Baekhyun guessed. Yixing nodded, a yawn escaping from his mouth as he shook his head slowly.

“As usual. I’ve been working on this song all week, but I finally broke through. Should be finishing up soon.” Yixing explained, “I would still be at the studio, but Sehun made Jongin take a break, and Jongin wouldn’t take a break unless I took a break.”

“And you listened to him?” Baekhyun asked, bewildered. Yixing never listened to Baekhyun telling him to calm down when they were roommates. He felt a little offended.

“Jongin gets surprisingly angry when Sehun is upset. I’ve learned the hard way.” To this, Baekhyun was able to understand. He had only seen Jongin angry over Sehun once, but it was not a pleasant experience for anybody involved.

“I’m glad Sehun’s there to control you guys. You can get ridiculously neglectful of yourself when you’re inspired.” Baekhyun commented.

“I can say the same about you. It’s a creative thing.” Yixing replied. Baekhyun found himself unable to disagree with Yixing’s point. “Why are you here, though? You usually call first.”

“It’s a long story. Would you like to hear it over hot chocolate?”

“My hot chocolate?” Yixing questioned.

“Of course! We’re best friends.” Baekhyun grinned. Yixing rolled his eyes, but moved aside to let the younger in anyway. Baekhyun stepped inside, delighted to not have to call an Uber back home.

“You can make the hot chocolate yourself.” Yixing said, “I’ll be in the living room waiting for you to tell me all about this long story.”

“Of course!” Baekhyun answered enthusiastically, heading straight in the direction of his friend’s kitchen.

-

“Okay, so, basically,” Yixing began to summarize Baekhyun’s story, placing his empty mug of hot chocolate onto the coffee table in his contemporary living room, “You met a guy, had the best drunk sex of your life, he conveniently became your tattoo client but he doesn’t remember you, and now you want to fuck him again sober?” The two were sitting on the blue loveseat in Yixing’s living room. The couch was worn but cozy, given to Yixing by his parents.

 

“Exactly!” Baekhyun enthused, “Wow, you really get me.”

“It was kind of difficult to miss the main points when you go into detail the way you do…” Yixing trailed off, scrunching his nose in slight disgust, before seeming to shake off his thoughts, continuing, “I feel like you should be careful with this guy, though. At least tell him that you fucked him when you were drunk.”

“I’m plenty careful!” Baekhyun argued, “Plus, how would I fit that into a conversation? ‘Nice weather we’re having- by the way, we fucked at that house party but you were too drunk to remember.’ Because that’s the perfect way to get closer to someone. He’ll be head over heels for me after I tell him that one, for sure.” Sarcasm dripped from Baekhyun’s reply, and he realized a little too late how hostile he may have sounded. Luckily, Yixing either didn’t catch it, or opted to ignore it.

“Okay, you kind of missed your window to tell him that, I can agree with that. I still think you should be careful with him, though.”

“Why does everybody tell me that? I’m the most caring dom in this city. Seriously. Check the BDSM forums. They voted me as number one caring dom in this city.” Baekhyun questioned.

“That’s not what I meant.” Yixing said, choosing to overlook Baekhyun’s comment after his question.

“What do you mean, then?” Baekhyun asked, his voice betraying the feeling of annoyance which was creeping up on him.

“The way you described him, he seemed… sensitive.” Yixing worded carefully.

“Well, yeah, that’s why I want to fuck him again.”

“Not like that!” Yixing raised his voice. He groaned in frustration, “You’re so dense. Not everything revolves around sex. This guy sounds like he has actual feelings, something you apparently don’t.”

“I have feelings!” Baekhyun exclaimed, defensive.

“Of course you do.” Yixing began, “What I meant is that not everybody is okay with one-night stands or being friends with benefits. Sometimes sex leads to feelings, and this Jongdae guy sounds like one of those people who gets attached easily. When I say be careful, I mean be careful with his feelings, because knowing you, you’d just lead the poor guy on. Remember that girl from college that threw her drink on you?” Finally, Baekhyun began to realize what Yixing was trying to say.

“I see.” Baekhyun mumbled, and he seemed to pause in thought, “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got it covered.” He said, giving Yixing his best reassuring smile. Yixing rolled his eyes.

“We’ll see.” Yixing replied, beginning to stand up. “You know where the blankets are. Let’s make breakfast in the morning.” He ended, turning around and heading to the hall which led to his bedroom.

“Yeah.” Baekhyun responded quietly, before throwing himself into the couch, laying on it so he was taking up all the space. For the first time, he began to think seriously about his goal. He wasn’t going to change it, but he needed to approach it differently. Before falling asleep, he spent the entire night thinking about possibilities.

-

Despite Yixing’s warning, Baekhyun still texted Jongdae only a few days after walking the younger man home. If asked, he wouldn’t be able to quite explain it- he simply got this overwhelming feeling of needing to see the charming, bashful brunette once again. He wasn’t able to come up for a logical reason for it, so he chalked it up to simply wanting some company, even though he had been seeing clients at his tattoo studio all day. Still he couldn’t quite understand the near-paralyzing feeling of anticipation which built up in his gut as he pressed send on the message he had typed up in his phone. He was surprised his hands didn’t start shaking.

_hey! wyd today?_

It was Friday, and in traditional Friday protocol, he was cleaning up the studio to get ready to leave early. This time, though, he found himself taking longer than usual. He lingered while he swept the floor, and cleaned the mirror until his reflection was so polished it looked like you could step through it. As he picked up his keys from the counter at the front of the shop, he felt an unfamiliar pit bubbling up in his stomach, and a feeling of reluctance to check his phone. He scolded himself. This is stupid, he thought, It’s just a text message. He couldn’t understand why he was feeling this bizarre turbulence inside of him. It was just asking a friend to hang out.

_nothing really, bothering my roommates lol_

After reading this message, the tumbling inside his stomach ceased, replaced by a feeling of unreasonable glee. His fingers moved faster than his mind could keep up with, as he typed the next message:

_i’m closing up rn. want to get some lunch?_

This time, the reply came quickly.

_sure :)! let me get ready_

As he read this, Baekhyun felt his excitement begin to churn rapidly. He sped out the front door of his studio, nearly forgetting to lock up the place behind him. As he head into the parking lot behind the studio, he felt relieved he actually chose to bring his car to work that day.

-

Baekhyun got to Jongdae’s apartment within ten minutes, but when he called the younger, it was revealed that Jongdae was still getting ready. _How long does it take to put on clothes?_ He thought to himself. Briefly, he thought about what Jongdae _could’ve_ been doing while getting ready for ten minutes and he felt his own familiar perverseness engulf him briefly. This, he thought, was a feeling he was more comfortable with, compared to that foreign pit in his stomach he had earlier.

On the phone, Jongdae had told him to come up to the apartment while he got dressed, giving Baekhyun his apartment number. Baekhyun obliged, parking his car in front of the apartment building and walking in through the door he stopped in front of before.

After making his way up the stairs and finding the door with the number Jongdae gave him, he knocked heavily to make sure the latter could hear him. The door opened soon enough, but instead of it being Jongdae on the other side, the door opened to reveal a short, young man with black hair, and plump lips which vaguely resembled the shape of a heart. Baekhyun stared at the man blankly, before it occurred to him that he may have knocked on the wrong door.

“Uh, sorry, I thought this was my friend’s apartment.” Baekhyun explained, and he waited for the other to say something and close the door, so Baekhyun could go away without looking rude. The other simply stared at him for a minute, and Baekhyun wondered what kind of bad luck he had to be standing in front of this guy, who was making him more uncomfortable with each passing moment. Finally, the other man said something.

“Are you Baekhyun?” To this, Baekhyun blinked, his eyes widening slightly in surprise.

“Yeah. Do you know me?” Baekhyun replied dumbly, and his mind started zooming through the people he had recently slept with, but no matter how hard he racked his memory, he could not remember the man in front of him.

“No. But my roommate does. He told me you were coming up.” The other man said, and Baekhyun became even more surprised. He stepped aside to let Baekhyun in. Baekhyun, slightly dazed, walked in, shaking his head.

“I forgot Jongdae had a roommate.” Baekhyun commented.

“People usually know the other one.” The younger man replied.

“There’s another one?” Baekhyun asked.

“Yeah, his name is Minseok. He’s basically Jongdae’s best friend. He’s at work now, though.”

“And you are?” Baekhyun asked. Suddenly, he heard Jongdae’s voice yelling from deeper within the apartment,

“Kyungsoo! Was that him?”

“That’s my name.” Kyungsoo said, his head pointing in the direction which Jongdae yelled from. As if on cue, Jongdae came into the living room where Baekhyun was talking to Kyungsoo. Baekhyun raised his eyebrows as he saw Jongdae was still not wearing a shirt. Jongdae seemed to freeze as he stared at Baekhyun, while Baekhyun’s mind did the complete opposite, racing with various thoughts and ideas. He let out a cough, snapping both himself and Jongdae out of it. As soon as he did that, though, Jongdae’s face began to fill with a bright shade of pink.

“Oh god, sorry! Oh my god. I didn’t actually think it would be you, um, sorry, I’ll be right back.” He stumbled, running out of the room and presumably back towards his bedroom.

_I wasn’t bothered._ Baekhyun thought to himself. Yet, as soon as he thought that, Kyungsoo looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

“Seriously?” Kyungsoo said, seemingly annoyed with the man he had just met. Baekhyun stared at Kyungsoo.

“Did I say that out loud?” He asked.

“You did.” Kyungsoo replied, and it was all Baekhyun could do to give a sheepish laugh in response.

Soon after, Jongdae came back to the living room, fully clothed this time. His cheeks were still dusted with a light blush, but he seemed a little more composed.

“Ready to go?” Baekhyun asked. He was getting hungry, and he was looking forward to spending more time alone with Jongdae. He was also itching to get away from Kyungsoo, who was appearing to find more things to mentally criticize about Baekhyun the longer Baekhyun was in the apartment.

“Yeah.” Jongdae said in a somewhat quiet voice, and as Baekhyun stared at the younger, he felt the same strong desire to pull Jongdae close to him and kiss him like he had felt when dropping him off at his apartment the previous week. Once again, however, he refrained. He noticed that Kyungsoo, who was now standing next to Jongdae, was rolling his eyes.

“Let’s go, then.” Baekhyun said, offering his hand to the younger man. Jongdae looked at Baekhyun, and then at Baekhyun’s hand, and he smiled.

“Yeah!” He said, louder this time, placing his hand inside the other’s. Hands interlocked, they left the apartment, both excited for the unspoken date they were to experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I hope you liked it! Sorry that the last part may not be as great as the rest of the chapter in quality, I got a little lazy with the editing lol. Anyway, I've been gone for a while. Honestly, I got writer's block, and after that school started again and it seemingly became impossible to write ever. However, I'm back! I've had this chapter in my drafts since November, so I'm glad to finally post it. I promise to work extra hard on writing more frequently, with quality chapters for you all to enjoy. It most likely won't be as frequent as once a week, since school keeps me quite busy, but you definitely will never have to worry about waiting six months for another update, lol. Thanks for understanding! I hope you all stay tuned for the next update :)


	4. IV. Jongdae

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! Though this update was faster than the last, it was still quite a wait, and I'm sorry for that. To make up for it, I made this chapter 1k more words than all the other ones!! I also would like to think the quality of my writing improved, but I'll leave that for you guys to judge. I promise I'll try my absolute hardest to get the next update written and uploaded even faster than this one!! Thank you for sticking around!

The journey to the cafe itself was nerve-wracking, to say the least. As he allowed himself to be led outside of his apartment building, thoughts began furiously accumulating in Jongdae’s head. Childish thoughts. Thoughts Jongdae would otherwise associate with a schoolgirl, now infesting his mind. _Is this a date? We’re holding hands, so it could be a date. But he didn’t say this was a date. We’re holding hands. We’re holding hands. What if my hand gets sweaty? Oh god, we’re holding hands. I should stop thinking about it. It’s just holding hands. He’s holding my hand. He’s probably just being nice._ Yet Jongdae couldn’t stop thinking about it: an infestation is never easy to get rid of completely. As he walked down the stairs of his apartment building (he was glad that this time Baekhyun had chosen the stairs instead of the elevator - Jongdae didn’t think he could stand being that close to the other with these thoughts running through his head), He found his thoughts becoming an unsightly amalgam of concerns and doubts. A conglomeration of worries, anxiety, insecurities. Possibilities. It was just holding hands. Why was he panicking?

If you asked him to be honest with himself, the younger man would have to admit that he had been thinking about Baekhyun since Chanyeol introduced the two for his tattoo. There was something inexplicably alluring about the apparently nonchalant way the elder carried himself, and there was something that swelled inside of Jongdae whenever the older man playfully teased him. It was the feeling that came with the increase in his heartbeat, a permanent feeling around Baekhyun. 

But Jongdae was not being honest with himself. He didn’t want to call this an attraction, because Baekhyun didn’t seem like the type of person to be attracted to anybody. It was evident in the way he spoke, the way he brushed off any inconvenience that came to him. From what Jongdae could see, Baekhyun was not a man of commitment. Evasion ran in the older man’s blood. He knew, from experience, that guys like that could only mean trouble, so he settled for lying to himself. It was probably easier than the opposite option. However, as he spent more time with Baekhyun, he was finding it increasingly difficult to deny the feelings that were beginning to grow inside of him. How flustered he was just by holding the other’s hand was a prime example. He knew there was no other explanation for why he was freaking out- he recalled holding Chanyeol and Minseok’s (and trying to hold Kyungsoo’s) hands multiple times, and he never became panicked while he did it. It was a gut feeling- something inside of him told him that if he admitted how he felt towards this irresistibly charismatic man, things would only go south. So he continued to deny it, reveling in his feelings of unparalleled euphoria whenever he was around Baekhyun. They say ignorance is bliss. Jongdae chose to believe in that this time around.

While he was deep in his thoughts, Jongdae didn’t register that he was now outside, in the parking lot behind his apartment building. He also came to realize, much too late, that Baekhyun was in the middle of saying something to him (and that they weren’t holding hands anymore, to Jongdae’s brief disappointment).

“And that is my car.” Baekhyun began, or concluded, considering he had began a long time ago while Jongdae wasn’t paying attention. He turned to look at Jongdae, appearing to study the younger man’s face, when he spoke again.

“Are you alright? You haven’t really said anything since we left your apartment.” He questioned, and Jongdae wondered if that was genuine concern in his voice or simple courtesy. 

“Sorry!” Jongdae blurted, “I didn’t mean to not pay attention, I daydream easily.” To this, Baekhyun raised his eyebrows.

“I didn’t say anything about paying attention, though?” He laughed, a laugh composed of exactly three “ha’s”. It sounded like that every single time he laughed. Jongdae thought it was a wonderful sound. But wait, his thoughts were getting ready to digress again. He brought himself back to the present, and realized that he just gave out unnecessary information. He felt himself becoming flushed, another feeling which he was learning to get quite familiar with whenever he was around Baekhyun. 

Baekhyun looked like he was going to add another teasing comment, but luckily for Jongdae, he chose to refrain, going to open the passenger door for the younger man instead. 

Baekhyun’s car was not the newest of cars, but it wasn’t incredibly old, either. It was gray, and looked like it could use a washing, but it wasn’t so dirty that it became revolting. It was the type of dirty that came with lack of usage, the type of dirty that told you it’s owner didn’t use it often. It was a sedan, and other than the fact that it was casually dusty on the outside, it appeared to be in good condition. As Jongdae got inside the passenger seat, he noticed that the emblem on the wheel was the logo for Hyundai. Baekhyun closed the door for Jongdae, and soon after appeared on the other side of the car, opening the door to the driver’s seat. 

“Sorry for the dirt on the car, I know it isn’t the best first impression.” Baekhyun apologized, “I have this bad habit of putting off cleaning it, since I don’t use it often.” 

“It’s alright!” Jongdae reassured him, “It beats walking. Plus, I’ve been in worse cars. Kyungsoo’s car can get pretty grimy from time to time. Minseok usually reminds him to clean it after he borrows it.” 

“Still.” Baekhyun continued, “Next time I’ll make sure she’s pristine, just for you.” Upon hearing this, Jongdae couldn’t tell if the intention behind Baekhyun’s words were purely friendly, or if there was deeper meaning behind them. Regardless, he felt his heart skip a beat. 

“Alright.” Jongdae conceded, “I’ll look forward to it, then.” 

Baekhyun grinned, and he started up the car, his pointer finger going to turn on the radio. 

“Guest of honor, will you pick a station?” He asked, his grin filling his words with mirth. 

“I will gladly oblige.” Jongdae played along, changing the station to one of the pop hit stations. He didn’t really care for what music played in the background, but it seemed to enhance Baekhyun’s mood, and there was something inexplicably gratifying to Jongdae about seeing Baekhyun happy like that. He was happy because of him, because of the music Jongdae chose to play. This was intoxication, intoxication like when Jongdae went to that party. Only the effects of this one seemed they’d last for much longer.

The two made small talk and enjoyed the music as Baekhyun drove to the cafe.

-

The cafe Baekhyun had picked was about a ten minute drive from Jongdae’s apartment. It was in a nicer part of the city, one that Jongdae didn’t get the chance to visit often, and he was surprised to find that Baekhyun knew about it. If asked, he wouldn’t go as far as saying it was somewhere his friend Junmyeon would hang out, but it was still nicer than his neighborhood. 

Baekhyun moved ahead of Jongdae to pull open the glass door of the small cafe, the white “We’re Open!” sign which was pinned to the door flapping as it opened. He led the two to a small white marble table for two by the windows, where he told Jongdae to take a seat. Jongdae obliged, getting as comfortable as he could on the ornate gold chairs which accompanied the table. For a brief moment, he wondered if the chairs were made out of real gold, before he shook the unrealistic thought from his mind. Nonetheless, he still found himself being in awe of the way the cafe was decorated. There were black and white checkered tiles on the floor, but instead of looking cheap, they were glossy. Golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling. Jongdae wondered how much the food sold at the cafe would cost, if this was how the cafe was decorated.

“I’m going to get some sandwiches for us, what do you want to drink?” Baekhyun asked, putting his phone down on the table in front of the seat across from Jongdae. 

“Oh! Um… If they just have some iced tea, that would be okay.” Jongdae responded, startled by the question, though he couldn’t understand why. They were in a cafe. Obviously, Baekhyun was going to ask what Jongdae wanted to drink.

“Iced tea? Got it. I’ll be back.” Baekhyun said, and he turned and left to go order their food. It wasn’t until he saw Baekhyun ordering that it occurred to Jongdae that he should be paying, and frantically he found himself searching his pockets for his cash. However, by the time he found his $20, Baekhyun had returned, with a pager on his hand, which he placed on the table.

“Here’s the money for my half, I didn’t mean to make you pay for it all.” Jongdae said upon Baekhyun’s return, handing the elder the money he pulled from his pocket. To this, Baekhyun stared at Jongdae in confusion.

“I don’t remember saying you had to pay for anything?” Baekhyun asked, though the way he said this made it obvious that it was more of a declaration than a question. Jongdae faltered. 

“I didn’t expect you to pay for me. Please, just take the money.” He insisted, though he felt his resolve dissipating. 

“I don’t take people’s money after deciding to treat them. Sorry, but I’ve got to decline.” Baekhyun answered. Jongdae was about to say something else, but as soon as he began to open his mouth, the pager on the table began to buzz, notifying the duo that their order was ready. 

“At least let me pick up the order.” Jongdae tried to compromise.

“No can do. Sorry!” Baekhyun apologized, but from the grin that had formed on his face, Jongdae could tell that Baekhyun wasn’t sorry at all.

Soon after, Baekhyun came back, a pastel blue tray containing two pristine white plates stacked with tiny sandwiches and two drinks in his hand. He placed it in the middle of the table, between the two. Jongdae took a plate and his iced tea, watching as Baekhyun took a sip of his drink.

“What did you get?” Jongdae inquired. 

“Coffee.” Baekhyun replied, “It’s sweet, just like you.” He continued, winking at the younger man. Despite the comment being cheesy, Jongdae couldn’t help but look away as his heart skipped a beat. With that small comment, he knew that his cheeks were pink. Yet, even though it was such a blatant flirt, Jongdae still couldn’t tell whether or not it was friendly. He felt a small drop of sadness, but it was too small to be significant to him. Yet. Instead, he tried to look back at Baekhyun, who appeared to gleam with pride seeing Jongdae’s flustered face, but he found himself looking away once more. It was almost as if Baekhyun shone too brightly, but Jongdae, though he didn’t want to admit it, knew the reason why he couldn’t directly look at him in that moment. It was something he would deal with another time, he figured. Instead, he bit into a tiny sandwich, reveling in the sense of bliss he felt in the presence of Baekhyun.

The rest of the pair’s hangout was spent getting to know each other, though Jongdae couldn’t help but feel as though he spoke more about himself than Baekhyun did. He began to fret- he felt as if with Baekhyun, all he did was fret- wondering if he sounded too narcissistic during their conversation, but if Baekhyun was bothered, he did an excellent job neglecting to show any signs of it, so Jongdae tried to push the worry to the back of his mind. Time passed quickly, and soon enough, Jongdae was back in Baekhyun’s gray car, being driven to his apartment.

“Thanks for inviting me out.” Jongdae said when they arrived in front of his apartment building. 

“Thanks for hanging out with me.” Baekhyun returned, and suddenly, the car became quiet. The two stared at each other, and Jongdae found that he didn’t want to go just yet. Baekhyun had that glazed expression in his eyes again that Jongdae couldn’t quite discern, that gaze which insinuated he wasn’t exactly “here” with Jongdae, and Jongdae felt that he couldn’t break eye contact with the older man, nor could he find it in him to open the car door. He wanted to get closer to Baekhyun. His mind was screaming at him to say something, but Jongdae couldn’t find the right words to say, and he was racking his head for something to say when-

His cell phone rang. Jongdae found himself groaning. Baekhyun seemed to return to his senses as Jongdae picked up the phone.

“Hello?” He began.

“Where are you? I got home like twenty minutes ago. I brought drinks and Kyungsoo doesn’t want to drink with me.” Jongdae recognized the voice on the other line as his roommate, Minseok. For the first time since he had met Minseok, he felt frustrated to hear his voice. 

“I just got outside. I’ll be up in five minutes.” Jongdae replied. Minseok gave some affirmative noise which Jongdae didn’t couldn’t quite make out before hanging up the phone, leaving him back in the car with Baekhyun, but the atmosphere had suddenly become awkward.

“I have to go. Minseok’s asking for me.” Jongdae explained, and Baekhyun nodded, “Thanks again, though! I had fun.” 

“No problem. I’ll see you next time?” Baekhyun asked, and Jongdae’s heart lurched at the thought of there being a ‘next time’ with Baekhyun.

“Yeah!” He replied, probably a bit too enthusiastically, “See you next time.” And with that, he opened the car door.

-

After the hangout at the cafe, Baekhyun and Jongdae started texting more frequently. Though they weren’t always full conversations, there were messages sent back and forth at least once a day, and Jongdae felt his heart soar whenever they texted.

However, with those blissful moments where Baekhyun was involved, there also came moments of severe dejection, moments of loneliness where Jongdae felt an empty hole in his chest, where he longed to talk to Baekhyun again- better yet, to see Baekhyun again. In his mind, he knew his attraction to the tattoo artist had increased significantly since he first saw him, but he still didn’t know what to do about the way he felt towards the other. Something told him the feelings weren’t reciprocated, that the only thing that came with an attraction to Baekhyun was heartache. Yet, he couldn’t get rid of the way he felt, so he let it grow instead. There was a quote in a childhood book, The Little Prince, about pulling out baobab trees before they become a big problem. Jongdae wondered if his feelings were the beginnings of a baobab tree. Deep inside, he knew they were. Even so, in that moment he didn’t mind the idea of the tree growing, eventually taking over his heart. The things one does when they are sinking.

It was a week after the cafe hangout that Jongdae received a text from Baekhyun, asking about his classes for the day.

_i only have one and it ends at 1, why?_

He hit send, and waited for a response, but when it didn’t come within half an hour, he shrugged it off and got ready for class. 

-

Jongdae had thoroughly forgotten about Baekhyun’s text from earlier that morning as he walked out of his last class for the day. He was talking to Junmyeon, who had started to text him more often after Jongdae unblocked his number. The two were business majors, and though Junmyeon was in a higher grade than Jongdae, they had similar classes, and today their class times were similar enough that they could catch each other after class ended.

“Want to do something now?” Jongdae offered, checking his phone for any new notifications. _Nothing important,_ he noted as he scrolled through various notifications from Instagram, telling him so-and-so liked his photo. There was a text from Kyungsoo asking to pick up milk before he got home, and Jongdae added it to his reminders.

“I can’t. I still have a class at 3, and I told my friend I’d help him study in the meantime.” Junmyeon replied apologetically. Jongdae sighed.

“Sucks. I’ve got nothing to do today, so I guess I’ll head back to the apartment.” He began, putting his phone in his pocket, “Kyungsoo wants me to buy milk before I get back, though.” 

“How is Kyungsoo? I don’t see him much.” Junmyeon asked upon mention of the freshman’s name.

“He’s alright. Most of the time he just studies. Wonder if he’ll keep that dedication the rest of the year.” Jongdae answered.

“Tell him to text me. He reminds me of my brother.” 

“I think he avoids you.” Jongdae joked.

“Why?” Junmyeon asked, mock bewilderment in his voice.

“He thinks you’ll invite him to a party.” Both Jongdae and Junmyeon began to laugh, when Junmyeon’s phone went off with the sound of a notification. Junmyeon checked what it was, before sighing.

“It’s my friend. I should probably get going now.” Junmyeon explained. Jongdae nodded in understanding. 

“Yeah, I should go now anyway, Kyungsoo’s probably waiting for his milk.” He replied, and the two began to say their farewells. 

After saying goodbye to Junmyeon, Jongdae started to walk off of campus, losing himself in his own daydreams. It was as he walked past the parking lot, when he was thinking about what he was going to have for dinner that night, that he heard a loud honk from a car next to him, causing him to jump in surprise. Annoyed, he got ready to yell or make an angry gesture at the car next to him, but what he noticed stopped him from taking action entirely.

The window of the gray car which had just honked at him was down, and behind it was the face of an all-too-familiar tattoo artist Jongdae had been thinking about recently. Immediately, Jongdae felt his irritation disappear, replaced by the usual flustered feeling that accompanied being in Baekhyun’s presence. Confused, he blurted out the only thing that was on his mind.

“What are you doing here?” Jongdae’s question came out bluntly, and he hoped Baekhyun didn’t think he was unwanted.

“Why did you think I asked about your classes?” Baekhyun pointed out, as if his intentions were meant to be obvious. “Come, I heard a few stores at the mall have a big sale today, and I need to buy some things. You weren’t busy, right?” In that moment, Jongdae found himself wishing Junmyeon hadn’t had to tutor his friend. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to hang out with Baekhyun, but as he gaped at the tattoo artist, he found himself being filled with the desire to wipe the confidence away from the older man’s voice. It wasn’t that Jongdae disliked Baekhyun’s confidence, he simply wished to not be so flustered near him. Unfortunately, Baekhyun was right, and he didn’t have any plans.

“You in there?” Baekhyun teased when Jongdae didn’t reply fast enough, making Jongdae groan internally. His mock annoyance with Baekhyun failed to prevent Jongdae’s oncoming blush.

“Yeah, I’m here.” Jongdae replied, and when Baekhyun began to laugh, he felt himself becoming embarrassed as he realized how stupid his response was. He felt like he became infinitely less intelligent, whenever he was around Baekhyun. He felt that he wanted to disappear. And yet, now that Baekhyun was here, Jongdae didn’t want him to leave. That also meant that he didn’t want to leave.

“I’m not busy, but Kyungsoo wants me to buy some milk, so I need to do that before I can go anywhere.” Jongdae explained, before adding, “Can you take me? It’ll be a lot easier.” 

“There’s no way I’m going to have you walk to the store and to your apartment when I’m here inside of a car.” Baekhyun responded, “Get inside.”

Jongdae pulled open the passenger door, quickly sliding into the gray Hyundai. As he got inside the car, he noticed that the dirt from his last trip inside the car was gone.

“You cleaned the car.” He commented, putting on his seatbelt.

“What did I say?” Baekhyun responded, “Just for you.” 

-

The brief errand Jongdae ran to get Kyungsoo his milk happened like a blur in his mind. He was daydreaming for most of it, and didn’t even realize he hadn’t told Kyungsoo he was going out again until his hand was reaching for the doorknob of his front door, and Kyungsoo called out to him.

“Where are you going?” He asked.

“Oh! Baekhyun and I are going to the mall.” At the mention of Baekhyun, Jongdae swore he saw Kyungsoo’s nose scrunch, but he chose to ignore it, “Should I get you anything?” 

“I’m fine. Have fun.” Kyungsoo said, before going back to the kitchen to make lunch. 

The ride to the shopping mall was short for Jongdae, who was used to going in buses and taking twice as long. Baekhyun, however, seemed frustrated.

“That guy in front of us didn’t know how to drive.” He complained as he turned off the car engine. Resisting the urge to reply sarcastically, Jongdae said:

“We got here, though! Plus, that was way faster than I’m used to.” He attempted to calm Baekhyun down. Baekhyun sighed.

“Yeah. We should go inside though, lots of looking around to do.” He replied, seemingly less frustrated. Then, to Jongdae’s surprise, Baekhyun went to hold Jongdae’s hand, his fingers interlocking with Jongdae’s as he began to pull him along. Just like that, Jongdae entered wonderland once more. The exciting, provocative, dizzying experience that was holding Baekhyun’s hand, returned to him. He found himself following blindly, nearly tripping over his feet as his mind went into overdrive once again.

-

Baekhyun had gone off to find a worker, he wanted to ask if they had some jacket in a larger size. While he waited, Jongdae began to look through the various clothes on the racks in the store. The pair were in their fifth store, and Baekhyun hadn’t bought much. Jongdae noted that Baekhyun was the complete opposite of Jongdae when it came to shopping- Baekhyun actually thought about buying something before he bought it. Jongdae normally just bought whatever he liked on impulse. Maybe that was why he was a broke college student. 

As he waited for Baekhyun, Jongdae noticed something that caught his eye. On a shelf near the rack of clothes he was looking through was a pastel yellow hoodie, the only thing left on the shelf. The shelf had a giant sign which read “40% OFF,” and, filled with hope that he could actually afford the hoodie, Jongdae walked towards it. 

The hoodie was heavy but delicate, the fabric of it melting into Jongdae’s touch. Jongdae held it up to his cheek, making a quiet exclamation when he felt how soft it was. Excitedly, he began to look for the price tag on the unrealistically soft hoodie. When he saw it, though, he physically felt himself becoming a balloon, deflating.

The hoodie was $100, and even with the discount, it was still $60. Jongdae only had $20 in his bank account, and he left his cash back at the apartment. He sighed, turning away from the hoodie when he saw Baekhyun walking towards him.

“Nice, right?” He asked as he walked towards Jongdae, holding up a leather jacket for Jongdae to see. Jongdae stared at the expensive-looking jacket in disbelief as Baekhyun walked up to where he was. 

“It’s on sale.” Baekhyun explained when he noticed the look of incredulity on Jongdae’s face, “Nice sweatshirt.” He commented, looking at the yellow hoodie Jongdae was standing next to.

“Yeah. I can’t get it, though.” Jongdae replied, looking at the hoodie longingly. Baekhyun seemed to pick up on this, and he grabbed the hoodie off the shelf.

“It’s on me, then.” Baekhyun stated, and began to head towards the register. Jongdae froze, taking a second to comprehend what Baekhyun had just did before going after him. By the time Jongdae had caught up to him, Baekhyun was already on the line to pay.

“You don’t have to do that, I can just come back for it tomorrow or something.” Jongdae urged, trying to take the hoodie out of Baekhyun’s hands, but Baekhyun kept holding it away from Jongdae, somehow managing to keep it out of Jongdae’s reach despite the two having similar heights. 

“Don’t worry about it, just wait for me outside, okay?” Baekhyun assured Jongdae, and Jongdae was about to say something back when he felt Baekhyun’s hand on his head, gently ruffling his hair. Jongdae had never felt so flustered before. He was certain that he had become red immediately- if red was a feeling, it was this, the feeling of malfunctioning- and his brain ceased any rational thought of trying to stop Baekhyun from buying the yellow hoodie. Baekhyun pulled something out of his pocket before putting it in Jongdae’s hand. Jongdae looked down at his hand to see Baekhyun’s car keys. 

“Go get the car for me, alright? I’ve got this.” Baekhyun said softly, and Jongdae couldn’t stop himself from nodding. Wordlessly, he turned around and began to walk out of the store, his body walking to the parking lot on autopilot as his mind swirled with frenzied thoughts about Baekhyun.

It wasn’t until he was in the parking lot, with Baekhyun’s keys in his hand, that he realized he forgot to tell Baekhyun he didn’t know how to drive.

Jongdae waited for some nine minutes before Baekhyun finally made it out into the parking lot, holding two bags. He gave one to Jongdae, who took it from Baekhyun’s hands timidly, not knowing what to say.

“Thank you,” He began in what was nearly a whisper, “I… don’t know how to drive.” Jongdae feebly handed Baekhyun his keys back.

“Oh, I know. You told me the other day. I just didn’t want you to see how much I paid.” Baekhyun replied. Suddenly, Jongdae felt himself swelling, like how your finger swells when you hit it against the edge of a wooden table by accident. He felt himself swelling, like the swelling which signals the premonitions of a bruise on your skin. He hoped, that this feeling wouldn’t lead him to a bruise. He felt warmth. Warmth towards Baekhyun,warmth to the things the other did.. He found himself breaking out into a smile, a sincere smile, one that seemed to engulf his entire being. He felt consumed.

It was immediately after that moment that Jongdae realized he had lost his grip on his emotions towards Baekhyun. It was then that he realized the lie he was telling himself had become useless.

-

Baekhyun drove Jongdae back to his apartment, the ride sweet but quiet. Jongdae was glad it was quiet. He felt as if now that he had acknowledged and begun to accept his feelings toward Baekhyun, it was going to become infinitely more difficult to refrain from becoming red, from malfunctioning, near the tattoo artist. When they arrived at his apartment, Jongdae thanked Baekhyun, grabbing the bag containing the hoodie the elder had bought for him and exiting the car in a much more hurried fashion than the last time Baekhyun had dropped him off. Upon closing the door, Jongdae found himself pulling out his phone.

If there was anybody Jongdae could trust with his current dilemma, it was his best friend, Chanyeol. Alongside being his best friend, Chanyeol was also a surprisingly good listener and advisor. He had been around for multiple of Jongdae’s ex-”crushes”, and was always there when they went south. It was no surprise that, upon leaving Baekhyun’s car, Jongdae began to send out a text to his best friend:

_hey, u busy? i want to talk abt smth_

It was five minutes later, when he was back in the apartment putting away the yellow hoodie Baekhyun bought for him, that Chanyeol responded to Jongdae’s text.

_na, was just having popcorn. want to come over?_

Jongdae replied immediately.

_i’ll be right there._

So Jongdae grabbed his keys, making sure to let Kyungsoo know he was heading back outside again (though he doubted Kyungsoo was very interested) before making his way to Chanyeol’s house. 

Chanyeol, like Jongdae, lived in an apartment closer to the outskirts of the city. Unlike Jongdae, though, Chanyeol lived alone, in a one bedroom apartment whose rent took up most of what he made in a month. Multiple times Jongdae had suggested Chanyeol look for a roommate, but Chanyeol always denied, saying even he needed alone time (“But,” he’d add, “If _you_ were offering to be my roommate, I’d consider it.” But Jongdae had his own roommates he couldn’t let down, so he always turned down Chanyeol’s implied request). Chanyeol’s apartment was about a ten minute walk from Jongdae’s, and when Jongdae got there, he saw that Chanyeol had already set up the “advice corner”- fluffy blankets stacked on his ugly- but cozy- green living room couch, two bowls of popcorn on his coffee table, the TV turned on to Adventure Time, and Jongdae’s favorite one of Chanyeol’s stuffed animals on the couch.

“Wow.” Jongdae commented upon walking in the apartment, “How’d you know it was severe?” 

“Are you kidding?” Chanyeol asked, “Anytime you want to get serious, it’s severe.” Jongdae couldn’t argue with that. 

 

Jongdae sat on the couch, sinking into the cushions. He felt the back cushion envelope him, embrace him, protect him. Chanyeol unfolded one of the blankets-a spacious, blue Captain America blanket- and draped it over Jongdae before taking his own seat. Jongdae sank further into the cushions, enjoying the new warmth from the welcoming blanket. It was in Chanyeol’s home that Jongdae felt safest, more than his own apartment, rivaling his parent’s place back in the countryside. Perhaps it was the feeling of companionship, loyalty, kindness that Chanyeol could provide. Reliability. In the shabby green couch, beneath the sea of freedom’s fleece, Jongdae allowed himself to unwind.

Chanyeol gazed at Jongdae, expectantly. Jongdae came here to tell a story. If there was one thing he could rely on Chanyeol to do, it was listen to Jongdae’s story. Chanyeol, who was known for giving those who mattered to him his undivided attention. Surrounded by his friend’s fuzzy reassurance, Jongdae began with a large sigh.

“You know Baekhyun, the tattoo artist?” He began. Obviously Chanyeol knew Baekhyun, the tattoo artist. This was simply a conversation starter. A preamble, for the preposterous (even to himself) statement he was about to follow up on. Chanyeol nodded his head.

“I like him.”


End file.
